Snapdragon 805 chip

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 we reviewed comes with the Snapdragon 805 system-on-a-chip, which should be the last 32-bit high-end chipset from Qualcomm. It's built using a 28nm manufacturing process and has a quad-core CPU with four Krait 450 cores clocked as high as 2.7GHz. The graphics processor is an Adreno 420 GPU.

The Galaxy Note 4 can alternatively come with the Samsung-made Exynos 5433 with an octa-core processor with four Cortex-A53 1.3GHz cores and four Cortex-A57 1.9GHz ones. The GPU in charge in the Exynos chipset is the Mali-T760. Our review unit however is the Snapdragon version.

Let's look at the CPU performance first. Geekbench 3 and AnTuTu 5 give an all-around evaluation of the system. Here the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 scored very high results. In Geekbench 3 it was defeated (strangely) by its peers - Samsung Galaxy S5 and Samsung Galaxy Note 3 with Snapdragon chipsets and the Exynos-powered Alpha. It edged out the Apple iPhone 6 Plus, though.

AnTuTu 5 shows the Galaxy Note 4 as the second seed just behind the Galaxy Alpha. Basemark OS II shows an overall score along with single and multi-core scores.

GeekBench 3

Higher is better

Samsung Galaxy Alpha3214

Samsung Galaxy S5 (S801)3011

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 S8002937

Samsung Galaxy Note 42925

Apple iPhone 6 Plus2884

Sony Xperia Z32860

OnePlus One2663

LG G3 - EU version2563

HTC One (M8)2367

AnTuTu 5

Higher is better

Samsung Galaxy Alpha51905

Samsung Galaxy Note 446824

HTC One (M8)44020

Samsung Galaxy S5 (S801)43164

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 S80042211

Sony Xperia Z340393

LG G3 - EU version39905

Basemark OS II

Higher is better

Apple iPhone 6 Plus1222

OnePlus One1196

Samsung Galaxy Note 41181

LG G3 - EU version1126

HTC One (M8)1126

Sony Xperia Z31109

Samsung Galaxy S5 (S801)1082

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 S8001003

Samsung Galaxy Alpha915

Basemark OS II (single-core)

Higher is better

Samsung Galaxy Note 42588

Samsung Galaxy Alpha2579

HTC One (M8)2428

Samsung Galaxy S5 (S801)2415

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 S8002236

LG G3 - EU version2213

OnePlus One2213

Sony Xperia Z32114

Basemark OS II (multi-core)

Higher is better

Samsung Galaxy Alpha15096

OnePlus One10234

Samsung Galaxy S5 (S801)10063

HTC One (M8)9860

LG G3 - EU version9611

Samsung Galaxy Note 49446

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 S8009364

Sony Xperia Z38792

The Adreno 420 GPU inside the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is very capable. We ran a series of on and offscreen tests through GFXBench and the gaming benchmark Basemark X. It's important to note that the onscreen tests should turn out with a lower framerate because of the Galaxy Note 4's (quite higher than 1080p) 1440p screen resolution.

The GFX 2.7 and 3.0 offscreen tests place the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 in second place behind the Apple iPhone 6 Plus. The difference in framerate isn't big compared to the iPhone but is considerable (in favor of the Galaxy Note 4) when compared to other phones.

The onscreen tests place the Samsung phablet way behind the competition, which is to be expected - it has the highest resolution here, aside from the LG G3.

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Basemark X

Higher is better

Samsung Galaxy Note 418684

OnePlus One13129

Sony Xperia Z312637

HTC One (M8)12396

Samsung Galaxy S5 (S801)11744

LG G3 - EU version11552

Samsung Galaxy Alpha11065

Browsing benchmarks show JavaScript and HTML 5 performance on the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. Kraken tests the former and lists the Galaxy Note 4 as second only to the iPhone 6 Plus and the Galaxy Alpha - a respectable score. HTML 5 performance on the Galaxy Note 4 is surpassed only by its main rival, the Apple iPhone 6 Plus.

Kraken 1.1

Lower is better

Apple iPhone 6 Plus4650

Samsung Galaxy Alpha4911

Samsung Galaxy Note 45351

Samsung Galaxy S5 (S801)6043

Sony Xperia Z36355

LG G3 - EU version6987

OnePlus One7008

HTC One (M8)10296

BrowserMark 2.1

Higher is better

Apple iPhone 6 Plus3389

Samsung Galaxy Note 42208

Sony Xperia Z31533

LG G3 - EU version1474

Samsung Galaxy S5 (S801)1398

Samsung Galaxy Alpha1364

OnePlus One1339

HTC One (M8)1069

What you need to take away from these tables is that the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is a very capable smartphone. The 1440p display resolution is tasking on the GPU (as seen in the scores above) and the multitasking features will take their tow on the processor but the Snapdragon 805 handles everything with ease.

Performance is buttery smooth aside from a half a second wait when you tap the recent apps button (but probably just nitpicking here - the same task on the Nexus 5 running stock Android takes exactly the same rime). The UI appears to run at a constant 60fps.